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<\/div>Under the Indian government\u2019s Digital Agriculture Mission<\/a>, set up in 2024, several digital platforms were launched to help farmers keep track of farming-related data. For instance, Agri Stack<\/a> is a unified database of farmer, land and crop records that aims to simplify farmer access to subsidies, credit and advice. The Krishi Decision Support System, meanwhile, analyses data such as soil health, satellite imagery and weather data to generate yield estimates as well as drought and flooding assessments. The government is also piloting a new mobile app<\/a> in dozens of states to make it easier for farmers to apply for subsidised fertiliser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India\u2019s broader goals are to make tried and tested agri-tech exportable, say researchers and entrepreneurs Dialogue Earth consulted. To achieve this, the country needs farmers to adopt the technologies. \u201cIf you want to export a technology, you first have to train it, test it and then deploy it,\u201d says Rajashekar Reddy, director of Delta Things, a Hyderabad-based agri-tech company that builds devices for soil analysis, pest control and weather stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notably, this increasing integration of technology in the country\u2019s farming ecosystem has impacted older farmers. Those with a low-risk attitude<\/a> can find it challenging to adapt. Younger farmers often support them in navigating these technologies, Dialogue Earth found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muthyala Sathaiya, 65, walks into the office of a farmer membership collective in Nalgonda holding a handwritten chit from his fertiliser input dealer. Sathaiya is here to collect bags of fertiliser that his input dealer ordered online on his behalf a few days ago. He\u2019s accompanied by his 35-year-old neighbour Vanam Jagan, who has come to assist him in case of any digital hiccups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do not understand the process of booking fertilisers online. I had to go around for four days and request educated kids in my village to [help me] get a one-time password [to get registered on the fertiliser sale app],\u201d Sathaiya tells Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of 2016, the average farmer in India was 50<\/a>. Many of them have lived through decades of evolution and upheaval of the country\u2019s agricultural policies \u2013 starting from the 1960s, when the green revolution pushed the country towards large-scale commercial monocropping, primarily of wheat and rice. It led to the mechanisation of farm tools, adoption of new irrigation techniques and increased use of agricultural chemicals to produce higher yields, all of which expanded the produce market by the 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The indiscriminate use of chemicals inadvertently created pressures<\/a> on natural resources such as land, water and biodiversity. In recent decades, it has made pests resistant<\/a> to pesticides and reduced beneficial insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, India continues to be a major emitter<\/a> of methane from rice cultivation, as well as nitrous oxide, produced when soil bacteria break down nitrogen-based fertilisers like urea. However, the country lacks a mandatory emission reduction policy in its agricultural sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Increasingly, extreme and unpredictable weather events directly impact crop production and farmer income. This year, researchers at Australia\u2019s Monash University found<\/a> that a 20% reduction in rainfall would induce an 8% reduction in all-crop national average yields in India, notably 11% for rice and cotton. While a 1C rise in temperature would lead to the biggest reductions for pearl millet and maize, at 19% and 16% respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Telangana, this year\u2019s agricultural sowing season was delayed due to a late monsoon. El Ni\u00f1o conditions have reportedly<\/a> kept water levels low in the state\u2019s reservoirs, affecting cultivation of Kharif (monsoon) crops. Every year is more unpredictable than the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agri-tech attempts to combat this problem. For instance, the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture<\/a> promotes climate-resilient farming through soil health cards<\/a> \u2013 biennial soil nutrient test reports provided to farmers to make farmland more climate adaptable. The scheme also champions water-use efficiency through micro-irrigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But recently, even more advanced technology is being employed in agriculture. Precision agriculture has increased and been promoted significantly worldwide, notes Kushang Mishra, a University of Auckland doctoral researcher studying the digitisation of agriculture in India. This type of farming uses real-time data and predictive algorithms to manage crops. The Indian government, research institutions and civil society organisations<\/a> have been pushing for precision agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A press note<\/a> released by the Indian government earlier this year highlighted an AI-enabled precision farming system developed by a Tamil Nadu-based startup. It noted how a government-backed coconut farm in the state used sensors to monitor real-time soil moisture, irrigation and fertiliser use through a mobile platform, resulting in yields doubling. This system has been adopted by over 3,500 farmers, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With precision agriculture, \u201clabour intervention is reduced, input costs come down, irrigation and fertilisation become timely, and only the required quantity is applied\u201d, says Jella Satyanarayana, project head of the Agri-robotics Lab at Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University in Hyderabad. \u201cThat reduces wastage and improves productivity.\u201d Mishra notes that farmers he interviewed during his research reported saving water, fertiliser and pesticides after adopting data-informed farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Mishra and other experts<\/a> caution that precision agriculture is not necessarily synonymous with sustainable agriculture, and may not ultimately reduce use of agrochemicals. \u201cInstead of providing a solution to chemical-based agriculture, which has sort of polluted our soil [and] has had so much environmental impact, these technologies might actually legitimise these chemical-based farming practices,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Jagan\u2019s eight acres of agricultural land, he has used drones, mechanised machinery and got his soil tested, among other interventions. Despite all this, he says the results have been disappointing. He claims his soil has been degraded by years of using chemical plant growth stimulants recommended by agricultural input dealers, who he alleges were motivated by sales commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite advancements in agri-tech, farmers in nearby villages still rely on migrant workers for farm labour, especially during a bad weather year, says Jagan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Farmers remain focused on immediate concerns such as erratic weather, rising input and labour costs and securing better prices, says Mishra. \u201cThings like farm data are not on their priority list,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data on soil quality, weather and crops are commercially valuable. Mishra worries that, were this data accessible to big businesses selling pesticides or fertilisers, they could do \u201ctargeted advertisements\u201d. He says the data could also be used by banks and insurers \u201cwho can understand, \u2018Okay, this particular area here has this chemical profile or this much soil moisture, so how should we target this particular area?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses are expected to comply with India\u2019s Digital Personal Data Protection Act by May 2027. How the law will apply to agricultural data, much of which falls in a grey area between personal and non-personal information, remains uncertain. \u201cWe need to see how the policy evolves,\u201d says Reddy of Delta Things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as questions over data governance remain unresolved, India is expanding the reach of its digital agriculture ecosystem beyond its borders. The recent India-Vietnam Joint Statement<\/a> on Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is one such example. It emphasised cooperation and two-way investment in digital technologies for smart agriculture, water management and technology transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the statement did not identify specific technologies or companies, researchers and entrepreneurs Dialogue Earth spoke to noted that India\u2019s advantage lies in developing data-driven agricultural solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The country\u2019s diverse soils, cropping systems and climatic conditions provide companies with a broad testing ground, experts say. Predictive algorithms can be refined across multiple crop cycles, weather patterns and irrigation practices, generating datasets and use cases that are difficult to replicate elsewhere, they note. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to compete with China in manufacturing,\u201d says Reddy of Delta Things. \u201cWhat we can export is the use of those sensors, the use cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we develop good algorithms and improve their accuracy, that\u2019s what we can export,\u201d he says, adding that his company has exported agricultural sensors to Hungary and Malaysia. Customers there were looking to analyse their crops\u2019 nutrient absorption trends and determine which nutrients to add to the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAssisting older farmers while reducing emissions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>Increased efficiencies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>Exporting use cases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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